The changes will not impact anyone's access to the NHS - but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it would bring management of the health service in England "back into democratic

The prime minister says bringing NHS management back under the control of ministers will slash waiting times and mean more money for frontline services - but others have warned of centralisation from Whitehall.

The NHS is the largest public sector organisation in England, seeing 1.7 million people each day including in patients’ own homes, local GP surgeries, pharmacies and hospitals. It employs 1.7 million people, is funded largely out of general taxation, and has an annual budget of about £190 billion.

The outgoing chair of NHS England has warned that a recent exodus of senior leaders poses “a real risk” to the service as the government tightens its grip on the cherished public health system.

Anyone interested in the history of healthcare in Britain will be familiar with the somewhat apocryphal quote from Nye Bevan upon the founding of the NHS, “if a bed pan is dropped on a hospital floor in Tredegar,